Trust in News report 2025
Approximately 60% of New Zealanders ‘uncomfortable’ with news produced by AI.
The AUT research centre for Journalism, Media and Democracy (JMAD) has published its sixth annual Trust in News in Aotearoa New Zealand report, authored by Dr Merja Myllylahti and Dr Greg Treadwell.
The report finds trust in the news in New Zealand is showing early signs of stabilisation after five years of sharp decline.
In 2025, 45% of New Zealanders trusted the news they consumed themselves (unchanged from 2024). Trust in the news in general fell slightly from 33% in 2024 to 32% in 2025, but at the same time, trust in individual news brands improved.
- Trust in all news brands increased with Whakaata Māori, Iwi Radio, RNZ and The Spinoff showing the strongest recovery from 2024 levels
- In 2025, RNZ was perceived as the most trusted news brand, the Otago Daily Times was rated as second, and TVNZ and NBR received the third highest trust scores
When asked about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in news, 60% of New Zealanders said they were uncomfortable with news mainly produced by AI with some human oversight.
- New Zealanders list transparency and openness as the most important aspect of trust in news brands. As newsrooms increasingly use AI, they must be fully open about the use of these tools, says Dr Merja Myllylahti, co-author of the report.
The report also finds a significant shift in news consumption patterns. Video-sharing platform YouTube has grown significantly as a source of news. In 2025, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube were among New Zealanders’ seven most used news sources. While not in the top 10 sources of news, TikTok has grown to be a source of news for 17% of respondents.
New Zealanders top 10 platforms for news consumption in 2025
- Stuff (66%)
- TVNZ (62%)
- NZ Herald (60%)
- Facebook (58%)
- YouTube (43%)
- RNZ (41%)
- Instagram (39%)
- Commercial radio (other) (39%)
- Three News (38%)
- Newsroom (34%)
We also asked what news New Zealanders were most interested in and local news came out on top (72% were interested), while not far behind were international news (70%) and political news (62%). New Zealanders say they are least interested in celebrity and entertainment news (21%), and fun news (26%).
People’s desire for local news is clear, says co-author Dr Greg Treadwell. This is odds what is actually happening in the local-news industry with large media companies shedding community titles.